Before Her
by ravenroses
Summary: This takes place before Yuuki found out that Zero was a vampire and he was starting to suffer.


He slumped against the wall. The week had been long and the weekend had finally arrived. Not like it mattered, he was stuck on campus whether he wanted to be there or not. And he _really_ did not want to be there. No one ever left campus. He liked to think the vampires did but he never held his breath to that.

He stared down the line of his body to the tips of his dull shoes, "Guess I should polish those eventually," he sighed to himself. Then he laughed, "How can I think of something so mundane at a time like this?"

He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket. His fingers brushed against the little box and the pills clicked together. He cringed a little at the sound. He didn't want to have to eat them. He wanted to be a normal kid again, with his own family and his own hit list. Okay, that last bit wasn't entirely normal, but to him it was. Hunting and killing those creatures was what he knew how to do. He was good at it and he wanted to avenge his fallen family.

He managed to pull the little box out of his pocket. The school's flower design was painted on the black box in blood red. How appropriate. He slid the lid back and before he could stop himself, he dumped two-thirds of the box down his throat.

He shook his head and choked down the pain. His thirst waned a bit but nothing helped. He was always hungry. Nothing seemed to help out these days. He had spent more time out of class rather than in it because he kept thinking of how each girl would taste if he sunk his teeth into the pale flesh of their necks.

Suddenly, he whipped his body around and slammed his fist into the wall. The force of the punch put a slight dent into the woodwork. He wasn't thinking about how much it would cost Headmaster Cross to repair. What he was concentrating on was how those pills were making things worse. He bent over in pain and bit back a roar.

"Kiryuu?" he froze. That voice belonged to one of Yuuki's friends.

He put his hand against his sweaty forehead and slid his sleeve along his face. He turned back around, "What?"

"Are you okay?" Yuuki's roommate, he couldn't remember her name, stood looking at him with big innocent eyes.

"I'm fine. Get out of here. You should be in your room by now." He now stood away from the wall, hoping his head would block the minor dent he put into it.

She gave him a weary look. He could tell that she sensed that something was going on in this school. Having Yuuki sneaking in and out of their room at all hours was enough to make any person suspicious, but this girl was somewhat intelligent.

Suddenly, his hunger flared up again. He doubled over and grabbed his stomach.

"Should I go get help?" the girl asked, fear beginning to creep into her voice.

"No," he stood up straight and looked at the girl. He ignored her face; he has seen it too many times and knew what he would see there. Instead, he looked down at her neck, that lovely part of her body where the blood flowed just beneath the skin's surface.

The hunger pains flared up again, "Run," he whispered. She hesitated. "Did you not hear me? Get out of here!" He didn't exactly shout at her but he wanted her to get out of here before he attempted to rip her throat out.

Finally, she heeded his advice. He took off in the opposite direction and made it to his room without seeing any other students. He sat on the floor instead of the bed. He reached for the small box of pills. He grabbed onto empty air.

He put his head onto his knee, "They're gone?" He thought back to what happened in the last ten or so minutes since he ate some. "I dropped them, didn't I?"

He jumped up. Someone was knocking on the door, "Zero? Are you in there? Are you skipping out on your duties again?"

He climbed to his feet and walked to the door. He swung it open and he stared down at Yuuki.

"No. I need to go see the Headmaster. Then I'll be out on patrol."

"What do you need to see Headmaster Cross for?" she asked

"That's none of your business," he pushed past her and began walking away.

She skipped up behind him, "Come on! You're always so secretive. You can trust me." She gave him her big eyes and a fake pout.

"No. Go back to your duties and stop worrying about me."

"Why won't you tell me?" she huffed

"This has nothing to do with you. Now go."

He stopped outside of the Headmaster's room. She looked up at him again and smiled, "I better see you out there later."

He gave her a very small smile, "You will. Don't worry."

He watched her hurry down the hall and out onto a balcony. She leaped over the edge and she was gone. He put his hand on the doorknob and thought about Yuuki and that stupid smile of hers. It always affected him. He smiled a ghost of a smile before it was slapped away from his face. He doubled over again and shoved the door open. He had bigger problems to worry about. He didn't want to run down the hall and destroy the only thing that made him smile anymore.

He hoped this weekend would be better than the last, but he really didn't have high hopes for what waited beyond the Headmaster's door. Would it be a fresh container of pills or a fresh corpse? He was about to choose.


End file.
